Dangerous Crocs

A couple of weeks ago we had a terrible scare. While on a lazy trip to the mall, my 5 year-old’s foot got caught in the escalator, very nearly severing her toes, or worse, foot. Thank goodness though, she was all right and we got away with a nasty fright, feet a little scratched but unharmed.

She was wearing her pink crocs, those rubber gardening shoes which have taken kids (and parents) footware fashion by storm.

It happened just as we were getting down to the lower floor. N suddenly screamed, and as I grabbed her, the back strap of the shoe was gobbled up mercilessly by the escalator. If the croc had been tightly fit (luckily it was loose, so it slipped off), her (gulp) foot could have been swallowed up as well.

N was shaken, and people behind us tried in vain to help, pulling the shoe out of the machine, but it was jammed, slowly getting crushed, every pink bit of it. N was so brave, seemingly more upset that her foot was now naked.

My sister, who was with us, stayed with the guards who were now filing a report, taking photos and such while N and I went in search of new shoes. My husband was furious when I told him what happened, he felt it was mall’s fault, using a faulty escalator. I agreed with him, until I found out that this incident with crocs on escalators has been happening all over the world. Read on and be wary of those shoes!!!

let’s not blame crocs for the accidents that happened on escalators…children, even adults, should be aware not to put their feet/toes near the end of escalator steps…obviously, the material crocs used can be easily “eaten” by escalators, but isn’t it like using paper near fire?

Same thing happened to my nephew at the movies. He was wearing crocs and just riding up the escalator with his dad. Suddenly the croc was stuck in the escalator and his toes/foot were almost mangled. Yes, this can happen with any soft shoe, but it is worth recognizing that many, many incidents of this have occurred with children specifically wearing crocs.

It’s not neglectful parents that are to blame. It isn’t the escalator or mall’s fault either. An incident like this one happened at a store I worked at and I was working that day. It’s the HOLES or SLOTS at the front of the crocs that are to blame! They get caught in the escalators teeth at the bottom of the escalator! If you don’t believe me you can look at the bottom of an escalator the next time you’re on one. This kid wasn’t so lucky. Some of his toes got severed.

I think you guys are crazy to blame shoes for accidents suffered by your children. Shit happens no matter what you are wearing on your feet and children are prone to accidents because they are small. Escalators are just dangerous not only for children, but also for adults. Grab them by their hand when they are riding one, as they can also break their necks while weraing nike, asics, reebok, ferragamo or whatever it is.